TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction High Fliers 4 Chapter 1 Up Up and Away 10 Chapter 2 Home in Space 22 Chapter 3 A Hard Day’s Work 30 Chapter 4 Down to Earth 38 What’s Next 41 Source Notes 44 Glossary 45 Selected Bibliography 46 Further Reading and Websites 46 Index 47
INTRODUCTION HIGH FLIERS Space shuttle Atlantis takes off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida When you hear the word astronaut you might think of rumbling rockets blasting skyward lifting humans into space You might think of men and women floating in space in bulky space suits Or perhaps you envision people walking on the moon You probably don’t think about vegetable gardens when you hear the word astronaut but you should That’s because high overhead about 248 miles 399 kilometers above Earth on a spacecraft called the International Space Station ISS astronauts are growing lettuce and other vegetables under indoor lights In August 2015 US astronauts ate space grown food for the first time 4
This lettuce was grown in space Why grow gardens in space Everyone needs fresh vegetables to stay healthy and astronauts are no different Unpiloted cargo vehicles often deliver supplies to the ISS The deliveries include fresh fruits and vegetables But the ISS has no refrigerators for food so astronauts eat the fresh foods right away Then astronauts return to a diet of freeze-dried packaged foods plus some veggies grown on board when to look you can see the ISS from Earth as a If you know where and bright light moving across the night sky You don’t even need a telescope
